From Middle English ferful, fervol, equivalent to fear + -ful.

• (British) IPA: /ˈfɪə(ɹ)fəl/, /ˈfɪə(ɹ)fʊl/
• (America) IPA: /ˈfɪɹfəl/, /ˈfɪɹfʊl/, /ˈfɪɚfəl/, /ˈfɪɚfʊl/
• (obsolete) IPA: /ˈfɜː(ɹ)fəl/, /ˈfɜː(ɹ)fʊl/

fearful (comparative fearfuller, superlative fearfullest)

1. Frightening; causing fear.
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene ii]:

     Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me,
     But let them hear what fearful words I utter.

2. Tending to fear; timid.

   a fearful boy

3. (dated) Terrible; shockingly bad.
4. (now rare) Frightened; filled with terror.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC ↗; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii ↗:

     kings ſhall crouch vnto our conquering ſwords,
     And hoſtes of Souldiers ſtand amazd at vs,
     When with their fearfull tongues they ſhall confeſſe
     Theſe are the men that al the world admires,

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗:

     Those two great champions did attonce pursew / The fearefull damzell with incessant payns […]

• (frightened) frightened, timid, timorous
• See also Thesaurus:afraid and Thesaurus:cowardly

• French: effrayant, redoutable
• German: furchtbar
• Portuguese: amedrontador
• Russian: стра́шный

• French: peureux, craintif
• German: furchtsam, ängstlich
• Portuguese: temeroso

• French: terrible, affreux
• German: furchtbar
• Russian: ужа́сный

• French: peureux
• German: verängstigt
• Italian: impaurito, spaventato, pavido
• Portuguese: amedrontado
• Russian: испу́ганный
• Spanish: miedoso, temeroso

fearful

1. (dialectal) Extremely; fearfully.